PAGES

Friday, June 18, 2010

RANT, RANT, RANT!

RANT, RANT, RANT!

I’ve just finished watching the atrocity that was the first half of the USA vs. Slovenia World Cup game, and I could just spit . . .

Somebody has to say this, so it might as well be me – the US Men’s National Soccer Team sucks. SUCKS! S.U.C.K.S! If they were playing the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team, I’d bet on the women’s team every time.

This isn’t to disparage the U.S. women’s team. Quite the opposite. The U.S. Women’s team is a well oiled, well coached, goal scoring machine. There is huge depth on the women’s team bench and each individual women’s team player not only wants to win, but knows how to win. The U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team plays in-your-face aggressive soccer with an American flair.

The U.S. men’s team, however, hasn’t graduated from the AYSO leagues, where everyone gets to play and it doesn’t matter what the score is since everyone’s a winner – who comes up with this liberal self-esteem crap? AYSO has a lot to answer for when it comes to the level of professional play in the U.S.

Watch the U.S. men’s team closely. Not one player can stop the ball at their feet – it always ends up with space between the U.S. player and the ball, giving the opposing player more than enough incentive to whip it away.

The coaching of the U.S. Men's team is a travesty. The only time the U.S. players successfully pass the ball is when they are diddling around in the back of their own half because they can’t find a way to penetrate the opposing team’s defense.

The U.S. team scrambles around on defense, out of position and out of breath, simply kicking the ball wildly to get it out of the area. There is no thought to controlling the ball, and the game, and engineering a counter attack.

On offense there isn’t a single U.S. player who has the ability to score on anything other than a fluke. Clint Dempsey, arguably the best U.S. player behind Landon Donovan, was the hero of the 1-1 tie against England with a powder-puff shot that dribbled into the goal off the English goalkeeper's rock-like hands.

Against Slovenia, Dempsey makes a brilliant run, he’s right in front of the open Slovenian goal . . . what does he do? Does he shoot and score, like a goal hungry European or South American superstar? No, he reverts back to the AYSO philosophy of ‘sharing’ and passes the ball across the front of the net into the path of two other perfectly positioned U.S. players . . .

Do they score?

No. One whiffs the pass and the other allows himself to be cut off by an aggressive defender who slices the ball away and out of danger.

Kill me now. Just shoot me and put me out of my misery.

When will an American superstar goal scorer rise?

Landon Donovan is an excellent player, but he is ultimately a midfield player, somebody who can brilliantly set up the ball for another player to score . . . the problem is there isn’t anyone to support his play – there is no true American goal scorer . . .

Wait . . . what’s that??? Donovan just scored! Bradley just scored! The game is tied! A third U.S. goal disallowed for apparently no reason! We wuz robbed!